Dnipropetrovsk residents suggest installing a memorial sign in the village of Vasylivka-na-Dnipri

Dnipropetrovsk regional ethnographers claim that the famous Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko had to be buried not near Kaniv but at the Dnipro rapids. They insist that Kobzar’s famous will – the poem “Testament” was read and interpreted wrong by his contemporaries. “The history of this problem has been unfolding for a long time already,” said regional ethnographer and tourism instructor Dmytro Synytsia at a press conference. Synytsia has visited and studied all places associated with the name of Taras Shevchenko. “Even in the Soviet time our countrymen, who were interested in the life and work of Taras Shevchenko, noticed the fact that his grave was located in a wrong place. In this regard, we can recall a dozen of regional ethnographers – father and son Kibets from Mahdalynivka raion, teacher Liudmyla Lenda, journalist Mykola Nychyporenko, and many others. They all wrote that Kobzar’s will was read and interpreted wrongfully. But for some reason this problem was hushed up.”

It is known that shortly after graduating from the Art Academy in Saint Petersburg young Shevchenko returned to Ukraine to visit native places. “His homeland is the Kholodny Yar – place where the insurgent movement of Haidamaks was born and Shevchenko’s grandfather told him stories about it,” said Synytsia. “Taras was always interested in the subject of Ukrainian Cossacks, that’s why in summer and fall of 1843 he made a great journey along the Dnipro River to Velyky Luh, where the Sich was located long time ago. The trip through the wild steppe was not easy, every day he went for 25-30 kilometers, stayed overnight in peasants’ farms and landed estates. From his letters and records we know that the route passed through Orel, New and Old Kaidaky, Dnipro rapids.” The largest rapid was Nenasytets, whose thundering noise could be heard in the steppe for many kilometers. “People also called that rapid Revuchy (roaring) because of the roaring sound of the water falling on granite rocks,” said Synytsia. “This fact was noted by many ethnographers, including Academician Dmytro Yavornytsky. Despite the fact that the rapids have long been flooded, the locals still say that on a quiet day they can hear the voice of Revuchy from under the water. You can only imagine what impression it made on travelers before, when the rapids existed in their original form.” Synytsia notes that when you get to this picturesque place, you can’t help but marvel at its accurate description in Shevchenko’s “Testament.” “This thing is that later, after a trip to Sich, Taras Shevchenko got seriously ill with pneumonia. At that time this disease was considered virtually incurable and people often died from it,” said ethnographer. “That’s why 31-year-old Shevchenko wrote his ‘Testament,’ which is now well known to every Ukrainian person.”

The regional ethnographer draws attention to the fact that near Kaniv the Dnipro waters flow quietly and calmly. The river roared and made noise only on rocky rapids far down the stream. “Besides, Shevchenko wrote ‘burry me not in a grave’ but ‘on a grave.’ Back at that time the word grave was used to name steppe mounds, and it was a generally accepted use of this word,” explained Synytsia. “We have analyzed the text and came to the conclusion that Shevchenko asked to be buried near the Revuchy rapid, because the view he described can be seen from the Scythian burial mound, located in the village Vasylivka-na-Dnipri of Synelnykove raion, Dnipropetrovsk oblast.”

The researcher believes that Shevchenko was buried near Kaniv mainly because his home village is located nearby and his closest family lived there – this clearly fits with the old Ukrainian tradition. Synytsia and his associates do not advocate for “correcting” the historical mistake and moving the grave of Taras Shevchenko to Dnipropetrovsk oblast. “We will soon celebrate the 200th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko’s birth,” said Vasyl Shevtsov, a professor at Dnipropetrovsk-based Oles Honchar National University and author of the book A Charm. Myths and Legends of Ukraine. “We believe that it is necessary to establish a memorial sign in the village of Vasylivka-na-Dnipri in order to make it known to all Ukrainian people that Shevchenko asked to be buried exactly in this place.” Professor Shevtsov said that in Ukraine, just like in other countries, there are energetically powerful places where talented people are born and force of a national character is manifested. “Kholodny Yar, Velyky Luh, and the Dnipro rapids, without any doubt, can be listed among such places,” said Shevtsov.